UNLESS THE LORD BUILD’S THE HOUSE

By Charles N. Spence, Jr.

You probably have heard many lessons on laboring in the vineyard of the Lord. You may have heard it said that it is the duty of each and every Christian to be active in the Lord’s work. There are times in which Christians are moved to action. They often go ready, willing and able to involve themselves in kingdom building. All this effort is being expelled for the purpose of building the Lord’s church and more particularly the local church. In this effort, however, too many Christians have become consumed with the idea of success being measured by the numbers that come into the assemblies. This is not to say that we ought not to be successful in our effort to aid in converting sinners to Christ. Nor am I saying that we ought not to be concerned about growing in number. We simply need to know whose success it really is and who is responsible for the numerical increases.

In Psalm 127:1 Solomon says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it . . .” the church is the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15). It is a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5). It exists because it was built (Eph. 2:19-22). Someone had to build it (Heb. 3:2-6). We are simply the tools that God uses to build His church (1 Cor. 3:5-11). He gets the glory. God has called us unto the work of proclaiming His word to the masses (1 Pet. 2:9). If anyone is converted, it would be because of the power of God at work in their lives (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:18).

Further evidence that house building is God’s work is seen in the physical laws that govern procreation (Gen. 4:1). Though Adam and Eve did what was necessary to bring about conception, once the child was born, Eve gave credit where it was due when she said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” God is responsible for setting in motion the process by which homes are established (Psalm 127:3). This process can also be seen in the spiritual sense. Just as God had purposed the way in which He would populate the earth, so He would populate His spiritual kingdom. Such begins with an act of spiritual procreation (1 Pet. 1:23). Jesus explained to Nicodemus the process by which one comes into the kingdom of God (John 3:3-7). One is born into it. He is born from above. So everyone who is a part of God’s house has been born of God. God is the giver of all life, both physical and spiritual (Col. 2:13).

Since God is an integral part of building up the church, we must consider Him in all we do in regard to building up the church. We must rid ourselves of the mindset that we can incorporate our own policies and procedures toward effecting church growth. This we must do because, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it . . .” Jesus, Himself, said that He would build His church (Matt. 16:18). In Acts 2:47, it is the Lord who adds to His church.

Again we are the Lord’s workmen called to do the work that He purposed for us do (Eph. 2:10). He builds through us. At present my wife and I are having a house built. Though we are not doing the actual building, the builders are building OUR house. We chose the plans, the specifications and the details. Each subcontractor does his part in building the house. The framers put up the frame according to OUR plan. The siding WE chose is put up. The type of brick WE selected is laid. The builders cannot deviate from OUR plans without consequence. According to our plans we requested a trey ceiling in the master bedroom; they put in a flat ceiling. For that, the builder had to pay and will compensate us for the error.

As Christians we cannot afford to deviate from God’s plan to build His house. We must exercise care in building His house. When He comes to claim it, it will be just as He had described it in His word. We cannot get so caught up in simply trying to increase the size of the congregation that we lose sight of the bigger picture. We are building up the house of God; we are helping to broaden the borders of the Lord’s kingdom. Let our focus not be how successful we can be in building up the local church, but rather how successful the Lord can be in using us to build His house: the kingdom of Christ.